The “bed’s scandal” in Middleton and Rowley’s The Changeling
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role played by the bed-trick performed by Beatrice-Joanna and Diaphanta in Thomas Middleton and William Rowley’s The Changeling and, beyond that, to study the tension between what is seen and what remains unseen of the play’s bedchamber episodes.The paper...
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| Wydane w: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/asf, |
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| 1. autor: | |
| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Język: | Anglais |
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Arrêt sur scène / Scene Focus
2022
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| Hasła przedmiotowe: | |
| Dostęp online: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Streszczenie: | The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role played by the bed-trick performed by Beatrice-Joanna and Diaphanta in Thomas Middleton and William Rowley’s The Changeling and, beyond that, to study the tension between what is seen and what remains unseen of the play’s bedchamber episodes.The paper shows that the play indeed offers several sorts of bedchamber scenes by suggesting and concealing the sexual encounter between Beatrice-Joanna and De Flores; by dramatizing a bed-trick; by setting Diaphanta’s chamber on fire and finally by representing Alsemero’s closet as a substitute for the bedchamber where De Flores and Beatrice-Joanna can “rehearse again” their “scene of lust” (V.iii.115-116). These four variations of a bedchamber scene lead to the image of the bed as a “charnel” (V.iii.84) and play on the tension between showing and not showing, giving the spectators of this “bed’s scandal” the impression that they see it without seeing it. This article explores the four moments of this “bed’s scandal” in which the absence-presence of the bed is conspicuous. |
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